Non-Negotiables

I was talking with an incoming first year teacher this evening, who is in the midst of finishing her summer training. She was petrified of working at a high school in DC since she loved elementary. A mutual friend told her to talk to me since I was in the same boat 2 years ago. She has spent the past month or so teaching elementary and didn't know if that would translate to high school. She asked me how she should tackle behavior management and what should she expect with co-teaching. I reassured her that you can't control everything. The best way to walk into a teaching situation that isn't entirely defined (any teaching job pre-day1) is to walk in knowing what you believe in. I decided to tell her about something I learned in grad school.

There were many things about my grad school experience that I despised. It felt like a waste of time. We weren't treated like college students, but like middle school students. The work was tedious. The list goes on. It was exciting, for the first time, I was able to pull on my grad school experience to guide a new teacher.

There were a few golden nuggets of wisdom that came out of the silt. One of these nuggets was the concept of non-negotiables. For one of the classes we had to create a list of 10 non-negotiables we have in education. I came up with the following 10...

1. The student must be included in decisions about their education, regardless of their age.

2. The parent(s) and the teacher(s) must be invested in the student if they hold the student to any expectations.

3. It is the duty of the school staff (administration, teachers, support staff) to provide a safe and welcoming environment if they expect students to attend school.

4. I will never lower my expectations for students, although I may adjust them when appropriate.

5. Students must take responsibility for their education, and teachers must show the students how to do this.

6. I will never deny a child their dream, but I will make sure they are grounded in reality.

7. The administration should put the students first, but never at the cost of jeopardizing a person's safety, both mental and physical.

8. A student's right to a proper education plan is always more important than a deadline.

9. It is the responsibility of the adults to provide a support network for students.

10. One should understand and accept a person's limitations, but never make excuses for them outside of their true limitations.

These were written part way through my first year of teaching. I was at the peak of my rage against the establishment of DCPS. I had experienced events I never thought would happen in a school building. I watched adults perform acts that were directly harmful to children's education. I heard excuses and lies that crippled my belief that I could make a difference. I felt a bit stupid writing some of them, such as number 3. Who negotiates safety? I didn't think adults in a school building did, but my first semester at my school brought to light that was not a universal truth. 

These non-negotiables brought a new sense of enlightenment into my teaching life. I spent countless hours being worried sick about planning, lessons, content, and all of these now NEGOTIABLE topics. Once I defined what I wasn't going to budge on, it was much easier to negotiate the rest and let go a little. As long as children were learning, the method was negotiable. As long as everyone was invested in the children and holding them to expectations, it was alright how they went about investing their time/effort. 

It isn't fair to yourself to walk into a dysfunctional school (or system) and assume that you will be able to execute your perfect plan. There are bound to be curve balls, road bumps (or blocks), brick walls, and other metaphorical issues that stand in the way of you and your perfect behavior plan or long term plan. By creating non-negotiables, you don't have your perfect plan, but you do have your integrity. That was the most important thing to have. I found that was the only thing that didn't change over the past two years. I've had 18 different behavior management plans. I've created over 30 long-term plans. I've changed contents 5 times. But I have never completely changed my non-negotiables. They have molded with my experience - adjusting to my ever-changing surroundings. 

It was nice to hear the incoming first year think this was helpful. I felt it was a bit enigmatic. I know she wanted a concrete behavior plan and the key to planning with a co-teacher, but I think she felt good knowing I was being honest. I suggested a type of planning, I guess. Planning on how to keep your integrity and dignity during your teaching experience in an inner-city school.